INGREDIENTS

•  3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
•  3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 
•  1/4 cup granulated sugar
•  1 large egg
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•  2 cup all-purpose flour
•  2 teaspoons cornstarch
•  1 teaspoon baking soda
•  1/2 teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
•  6 ounces (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips
•  6 ounces bittersweet or dark baking chocolate, chopped into bite-sized chunks (I use Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus bar)

​

INSTRUCTIONS

1. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Add the sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 3 minutes.
3. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flours, corn starch, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
5. Add the chocolate chips and chunks, and either fold in by hand or beat for a few seconds on low speed.
6. Using a 2-ounce cookie scoop, form heaping mounds weighing 2 1/4-ounces each (weighed on a scale, which is approximately a scant 1/4-cup measure. Dough mounds will look large for their weight because there’s lots of chocolate pieces adding bulk).
7. Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days.
8. Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on the baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart; I bake 8 cookies per sheet.
9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges, even if slightly undercooked in the center, noting the tops will not be browned and will be pale. Do not cook longer than ten minutes as cookies will darken and firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked for 8 minutes, rotated once midway through baking, and have chewy edges with soft pillowy centers).
10. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling

NOTES​

• Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup/1.5 sticks butter
• 1 cup sugar (extra for rolling the dough in before cooking)
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 Cups flour
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt (1/4 tsp if using salted butter)

Directions:

1. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and molasses and stir till fully combined.
   
2. n another bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
   
3. Add dry ingredients to wet mixture, combine fully, you may have to use your hands to et the mixture fully combined.
   
4. Chill in the fridge. (I have made many batches without chilling first)
   
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
   
6. Form the cookie dough into balls- approximately 1 inch, and roll the balls in granulated sugar.
   
7. Place on greased cookie sheet.
   
8. Bake. Take them out as soon as the dough begins to crack on top. You want them to still be soft and gooey.  

This is a classic Heath Family recipe. When we give these to people, it is not uncommon for them to say they are the best cookies they've ever had. 

Ingredients

• Kale 5-7 leaves. destemmed
  • Spinach, Cabbage
• 1/2 banana
• 1 date
• 1/2 avocado
• few leaves fresh spearmint
• small nubbin of ginger
• cucumber, 1 persian, 1/4 large cucumber
• 1/2 teaspoon spirulina powder
• 1 teaspoon Moringa powder
• Rolled Oats - makes a creamier texture
• large dollup goat Yogurt or Keifer
• Homemade kombucha
• dash of apple cider vinegar

Optional - if you have them on hand

• strawberries - frozen or fresh
• huckleberries/blueberries - frozen or fresh
• cacao nibs- add some crunch
• Tumeric plus a little black pepper - for anti-inflamatory properties
• Maca Powder
• Acai berry powder
• Ripe pear in substitue for the banana
• Monkfruit sugar in replacement of banana and date if avoiding sugar or carbs
• nuts or nut butters
• coconut oil - MCT oil
• Milk substitute: Almond milk, coconut milk, Oat milk, etc. 
• raw zucchini
• broccoli

Directions
This is roughly a morning breakfast size for 1 person. Place ingredients in a blender and blend them up till smooth!
In general I try to focus on the greens, and less on making a sweet fruit heavy smoothie. 

Ingredients

Sauce

• 6 cloves garlic
• 3-4 shallots
• Roma Tomatoes
• Fresh Parsley
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Salt & Pepper
• Fresh Parmesan
• 2lb package of frozen raw prawns

 
1.Sweat the Garlic and Shallots on low heat while you chop and add the tomatoes, you can bring up to a medium heat once the tomatoes are in the pan. make sure nto to cook the sauce too much, it should be light and fresh.
2.Chop and add parsley. Salt Pepper to taste. Contintue to simmer
3.Thaw and rinse prawns. Add to a hot cast iron pan. As the cook, add juices from the sauce in with the prawns, avoid the chunks of tomato etc. Flip the prawns. Add juices, until prawns are slightly browned on outside and cooked through.
4.Grate parmesan
5.Make nests with pasta, top with sauce and then grilled prawns.

Pasta

1. Boil a large amount of water in a 8 qt stock pan. Note: to cut down on the time and energy required to heat up that amount of water, I use my electric tea kettle to get the water boiling, and then add to the pot on medium heat.
2. Add a good amount of salt to the water
3. Add a good amount of Olive Oil to the pan
4. Bring to a rolling boil
5. When ready add noodles – heed the cook time on the package, but I always go by the taste of the noodles to know when to strain the pasta. Stir frequently and pull the noodles up through the oil on the surface.
6. I look for perfectly cooked pasta, not over cooked and not full al dente. I want the noodles to be firm, but I don’t want to taste hardness or raw noodle at the center of the noodle.
7. Strain the noodles when they are ready. Rinse with cool water to keep them from continuing to cook, but don’t drown them or fully cool them off. We still want a hot meal! Add a couple glugs of olive oil and mix to coat the noodles in oil, and not have the stick to each other.

Chocolate Shortbread Crust
​

• 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing, at room temperature
• 1/3- cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch salt

1. Cream together sugar butter and cocoa powder in the bowl until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix with hands until the dough starts to come together.  Roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap to get nice and thin. Press the dough into a 10-inch-round or 9-inch-square false-bottom tart pan, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil to fit inside the chilled tart and place it, buttered side down, on the pastry. Fill with beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, prick the tart all over with the tines of a fork, and bake again for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Traditional Shortbread Crust

• 1 stick unsalted butter, plus more for greasing, at room temperature
• 1/3- cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch salt

1. Cream together in the bowl until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix with hands until the dough starts to come together.  Roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap to get nice and thin. Press the dough into a 10-inch-round or 9-inch-square false-bottom tart pan, making sure that the finished edge is flat. Chill until firm.
2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil to fit inside the chilled tart and place it, buttered side down, on the pastry. Fill with beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, prick the tart all over with the tines of a fork, and bake again for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool to room temperature.

​Lemon Cream Curd

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice (Meyer or regular) Note: I generally double the lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 3/4 cup sugar -  good amount or just slightly less
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter

 

1. Pour water to a depth of about 2 inches into a saucepan, place over medium heat, and bring to a simmer.
2. Combine the lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, sugar, and salt in a stainless steel bowl that will rest securely in the rim of a saucepan over, not touching, the water. (Never let the egg yolks and sugar sit together for more than a moment without stirring; the sugar will cook the yolks and turn them granular.) Place the bowl over the saucepan and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very thick and registers 180° F on a thermometer. This will take 10 to 12 minutes. If you don't have or trust your thermometer, don't worry. It should thicken to the point that your whisk leaves a trail through the curd.
3. Remove the bowl from over the water and let cool to 140° F, stirring from time to time to release the heat.
4. Meanwhile, cut butter into 1-tablespoon (15-ml) pieces. When the cream is ready, leave it in the bowl if using an immersion blender, or pour it into a countertop blender. With the blender running, add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time, blending after each addition until incorporated before adding the next piece. The cream will be pale yellow and opaque and quite thick.
5. You can use the cream immediately, or pour it into a storage container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 5 days. To use after refrigeration, if necessary, gently heat in a stainless steel bowl set over simmering water until it has softened, whisking constantly.

Lemon curd

• 3 lemons
• 3/4-1 cups sugar
• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 extra-large eggs 
• 1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons) - double this and zest of 2 lemons
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

 

1. Using a carrot peeler, remove the zest of 3 lemons, being careful to avoid the white pith. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the sugar and pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.
2. Cream the butter and beat in the sugar and lemon mixture. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.
3. Pour the mixture into a 2 quart saucepan and cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes), stirring constantly. The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees F, or just below simmer. Remove from the heat and cool or refrigerate.

​
Huckleberries

• 1 cup huckleberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water - if you have no fresh mint, brew with peppermint tea. 
• juice (and zest) of 1/2 lemon
• 4 sprigs of fresh spearmint stems

1. Make a basic and thin simple syrup with sugar, water/tea, lemon juice, and mint stems. 
2. Allow to cool
3. Dunk huckleberries into syrup, coat berries, and strain from the sugar mixture. 
4. possibly save the simple syrup for a crafty cocktail.

Assembly

• Allow crust to come out of the oven and cool. speed up the process int eh fridge. 
• Once crust is cool, add the lemon curd/ cream curd, and allow to fully cool and set. 
• once ready to serve arrange the sugar soaked huckleberries onto the top of the set lemon tart.

Ingredients

• Spaghetti Pasta
• 2 cans whole peeled Tomatoes (could also be diced or pureed or a combination – just don’t use tomato sauce, just tomatoes, no extra herbs or spices.) The absolute best is if you have grown and canned your own tomatoes, but store bought cans work perfectly fine too!
• ½ head gearlic – I love garlic!
• Fresh Basil – 2 bunches
• Dash Oregano
• Chili flakes
• Calabrian Chilis or Calabrian Chili Paste
• Spicy Italian Sausages/Sausage meat
• Real Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Olive Oil

 
Pasta

1. Boil a large amount of water in a 8 qt stock pan. Note: to cut down on the time and energy required to heat up that amount of water, I use my electric tea kettle to get the water boiling, and then add to the pot on medium heat.
2. Add a good amount of salt to the water
3. Add a good amount of Olive Oil to the pan
4. Bring to a rolling boil
5. When ready add noodles – heed the cook time on the package, but I always go by the taste of the noodles to know when to strain the pasta. Stir frequently and pull the noodles up through the oil on the surface.
6. I look for perfectly cooked pasta, not over cooked and not full al dente. I want the noodles to be firm, but I don’t want to taste hardness or raw noodle at the center of the noodle.
7. Strain the noodles when they are ready. Rinse with cool water to keep them from continuing to cook, but don’t drown them or fully cool them off. We still want a hot meal! Add a couple glugs of olive oil and mix to coat the noodles in oil, and not have the stick to each other.

 
Sauce

1. Add tomato cans to a sauce pans. If the tomatoes are whole I try to break them up into bite size chunks with fork and knife, or with kitchen shears.
2. Pan fry the spicy Italian sausage in a cast iron pan.
3. Mince the garlic and add to the sauce pan. Sometimes I will roast some whole garlic cloves in a toaster oven until it is soft and sweet, and add them whole to the sauce.
4. Add in Oregano, sliced Calabrian chilis or Calabrian chili paste, chili flakes and salt to taste
5. Allow to come to a simmer, don’t over boil or it will become too runny.
6. Add fresh basil, because it cooks down and adds such a wonderful flavor I am very generous with the fresh basil in the sauce. I also add more fresh basil on top the finished pasta so cut extra and save some for garnishing the dish!
7. Cut up spicy Italian sausages into bite size chunks, and add to sauce.
8. Simmer until noodles are ready.

 

1. Grate fresh parmesan.

 

1. Serve with red wine.

Ingredients
 
Lamb Burgers

• 1 lb package of ground lamb
• ¼ red onion (minced)
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 10-15 leaves fresh spearmint leaves/ ¼ tsp dried mint/ dash of the inside of a peppermint tea bag
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp sweet paprika
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• Dash of Italian seasoning
• Salt & Pepper

Directions
 

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Note: All of the measurement above are guesstimations, I really do the proportions of ingredients by eye. Easy on salt and pepper inside the burgers as they will be salted and peppered before going on the grill or in the pan.
2. Using your hands, mix together all the ingredients so that they are all evenly dispersed throughout the burger meat.
3. Form into 3-4 patties. Place on a plate.
4. Put on Pink Himalayan Salt and Cracked Black pepper on both sides of the burger patties, pat the salt and pepper lightly into the meat with hand.
5. Heat a seasoned cast iron pan on med-high heat. Or prime a grill or BBQ.
6. Once pan or grill is hot, place burger patties on. They should sizzle immediately.
7. Ideally you want to only flip once. It is not the end of the world if you flip an extra time or two, but try to be patient and let it cook well on both sides only once.
8. When burgers are done to your liking, remove from heat, and onto a toasted bun with Tzatziki sauce on it.

 
The Fixins

• Toasted burger bun of choice
• Garden fresh sliced Tomatoes
• Garden fresh Arugula
• Perfectly ripe Avocado
• Tzatziki Sauce (homemade)

 
Note: I like to display all of the fixings on the plate and allow each person to construct their own burger.
 
Tzatziki Sauce

• Goat cheese
• Labneh – Fermented kefir cheese (sold at Trader Joes)
• Goat Yogurt
• 1 Small – med Cucumber
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• 8-10 leaves fresh spearmint/ dash dried mint/ dash of leaves from a peppermint tea bag
• Salt & Pepper

 
Directions

1. Combine Goat Cheese,  Labneh, and Yogurt and whip together until it is creamy. I try to make a bowl full of the finished tzatziki sauce, left over always gets eaten.
2. Add parsley and mint
3. Finely mince the cucumber, and add into the cheese and herbs. The consistency should be runny, but not watery. The cucumber adds a lot of water naturally, so add it in carefully so as to not make the sauce too watery.
4. I use goat cheese and not feta, because you can add salt at the end and control the amount of salt in the sauce. Pepper too. I generally put just a pinch of black pepper in the sauce.
5. Any small bits of garlic or onion that may be on my cutting board from making the burgers, I am not too worried if they get into the sauce. Not a lot, just a piece here and there.

**This recipe is for a large batch of dolmas.

Ingredients
​~4 cups long grain brown rice
~4 cups water
5 carrots
2 zucchini
fresh tomatoes or 1 small can minced tomatoes
2 bell peppers
2 stalks celery
5-6 large leafs chard
5-6 large leafs kale
1/2cup - 1cup parsley
1.5 cans tomato paste
Olive Oil
Lemon juice
Grape leaf brine
​Salt
**veggie portions are approximate, I always king of wing it and use the veggies I have on hand.

​
Recipe Instruction

• Mince up the veggies so they are rice sized bits, they will have a lot of juice, the juices from the veggies act as extra water for the rice. I use my food processor for this. Combine all minced veggies in a large bowl. Bring rice and water to a low boil, then add veggies. Add salt to taste.
• Allow rice to cook for 50 minutes to 1.5 hours. Stirring and adding boiling water as needed for the rice to cook fully. Once the rice is fully cooked, remove from heat
• Add in about 1 can of tomato paste and stir in, add in salt and lemon juice to taste. 
• Set yourself up with something nice to listen to or watch, you will be rolling dolmas for quite some time!
• Everyone will develop their own rolling technique; this is mine: Spread out the dolma leaf, place a dollop of cooled rice at the base of the leaf where the stem breaks into 5 veins. Fold over the tails of the leaf over the rice, tuck in the sides, and roll toward the top of the leaf, once put a little dab of tomato paste to hold the leaf in place. My mom's dolmas are always messier than mine :D! 
• Once all the dolmas are rolled, arrange them in a shallow/wide stove-top pan, in a double layer is fine. Add some olive oil, lemon juice, brine from the grape leaf jar, and water. Place a plate on top of the dolmas, and allow to simmer low for 30 minute or so.
• Remove from heat, allow them to cool, and enjoy!
• Freeze to preserve??

Ingredients
2 cans chickpeas
4 cloves garlic
4 generous tablespoons Tahini
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons
water
Paprika, Parsley & Finishing Olive Oil for garnish

• To make the creamiest hummus it is best to remove the skin or film from each of the chickpeas. Set yourself up with three bowls, one full of chickpeas from the can, one for deskinned chickpeas, and one for the skins. 
• Once the chickpeas are all skinned and ready, set up the food processor. I always begin by putting the garlic in the food processor first, because it ensures that the garlic is finely minced and distributed throughout the hummus. 
• Then add all the other ingredients to the food processor and blend. at this point my hummus is pretty thick and on the drier side. some folks like it this way and may prefer to stop here. I like my hummus a little creamier, so I drizzle in a little bit of water while the food processor is running until it is my desired creaminess just add the water in very slowly, so that it doesn't get too runny. 
• remove from processor and drizzle some finishing olive oil, Paprika, and/or parsley on top for garnish and extra flavors!
• Enjoy with veggies, chips, crackers, bread...

Sourdough Pie Crust

Make Half Recipe for 1 Galette - better flavor if the sourdough starter has been neglected for a few days ;)

2 sticks butter
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1+ cup sourdough starter
1 egg - to shine the crust - optional
Powdered sugar -  to sprinkle on top - optional

1. Save the sourdough starter you are going to throw out when you feed your starter
2. Chill the butter sticks in the freezer
3. Add dry ingredients together, cut in the butter, or break it up by hand until the butter is about pea sized bits - work quickly so that the butter stays cold. 
4. Add sourdough starter all at once and mix together by hand. If there is not enough moisture to combine all dry ingredients add a little more starter or a couple tablespoons of chilled water.
5. Wrap in saran wrap and chill in the fridge 
6. Remove from fridge, cut in half, roll into a ball and roll out into crust
7. Butter pie pan, add bottom crust - filling - top crust

Filling

6~ Gravenstein apples
1 cup huckleberries, blueberries if you don't have huckleberries
1/2- 3/4 cup sugar 9 (don't skimp on the sugar, it's a pie for goodness sake)
1 tbsp Flour
zest and juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp powdered ginger

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. peel core and cut apples into 1/4 inch slices
3. Rinse huckleberries, and separate out andy green ones or leafs and stems that might have gotten into the bowl while picking. 
4. In a bowl, combine with the sugar with the vanilla extract, ginger, lemon juice and zest. Add the apples, blueberries and 2 tbsps. flour, mixing.
5. Roll out pie dough, and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Arrange the mix in the middle of the tart dough. Fold the overlapping pastry edge over the filling, but leaving the center open.
6. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.  If the crust or the apples look like they’re overcooking (turning dark), cover the galette with aluminum foil and continue to cook. Remove from oven, let cool and serve warm. If juices ran out of the galette while baking, spoon them back into the center of the galette from the pan, do it as soon as it is out of the oven, it will gel and solidify as it cools.
7. Serve with Haagen Dazs Vanilla Ice cream